"Did anyone catch CNN's Reliable Sources going inside the newsroom of Politico.com?" Roland S. Martin, the CNN and TV One commentator, wrote to the National Association of Black Journalists e-mail list. "It was pathetic. All white folks at the table deciding the stories to cover. Not one African American or any other minority.

"I only saw one woman, and I swear she didn't say a word. They had her sitting next to the editor, and it was clear she was window dressing," said Martin, who is secretary of the association.

A self-described Latina "news junkie" wrote Journal-isms, "I just watched with my significant other in absolute horror on CNN that POLITICO's morning 'top editors and reporters' meeting had not ONE female or ONE person of color. POLITICO has often been referred to as one of the top and influential DC publications. How is this possible when they seem to only represent the views of white men? How can they consider themselves 'new media' when they look just like the old media? . . . Should it be any surprise to anyone why their articles on issues of race seem so absurd?"

John F. Harris, Politico co-founder and editor in chief, says the camera shots might have been misleading and that Politico is, in fact, committed to diversity.

"We are making strides that are gratifying to me, even as I have always considered this a long-term project," he said. "We have racial diversity in most of the most important positions in our newsroom - on the White House team, on our photo team, on the copy and production desks, and on our congressional team."

Politico launched in January 2007, attracting well-known white reporters such as Mike Allen, formerly of the Washington Post and Time, but with a single black reporter, Helena Andrews, a style writer for the publication who had been a news aide at the New York Times Washington Bureau. The staff then comprised 52 people, including 19 journalists.

The Web site's list of more than 80 editorial employees includes star white reporters who came from other publications, such as Roger Simon, chief political columnist, and at least five journalists of color in other roles: Henderson; Michael Schwartz, director of photography; Web producers Seung Min Kim and MJ Lee; and copy editor LaRonda Peterson. No one of color was visible in the agenda-setting news meeting, however.

The American Society of News Editors encourages news organizations to be forthcoming about their diversity figures, using them for the census of newsrooms it has conducted since 1978, primarily as a means of measuring minority employment.

"I do wish to disabuse you of the idea that the editorial meeting featured 'token representation of women.' The women in that meeting included our managing editor for on-line (in charge of the web site), the deputy managing editor (in charge of running the print operation day to day) and one of our lead White House reporters.

"On racial diversity, POLITICO has made steady progress since you and I first corresponded around the time of our publication's launch three years ago, and we are expecting more progress as the publication matures.

"We have racial diversity in most of the most important positions in our newsroom--on the White House team, on our photo team, on the copy and production desks, and on our congressional team.

"This progress has come because we have worked at it, attending NABJ conventions (and sponsoring one of their Washington events) and establishing good ongoing relationships with Eric Wee's impressive JournalismNext job site, as well as several collegiate programs.

"Beth Frerking, who helps with our recruiting efforts, has made a diversity a focus.

"When we can, we'll make progress by hiring well-known journalists with established reputations in the profession. Since this path alone is not enough, we are also putting emphasis on our own internal development of young journalists.

"Our summer intern programs have helped us advance diversity, including with interns who have performed so well that they worked themselves into full-time jobs. Our entry-level reporting and web production jobs have also been good opportunities to help the cause.

"So we are making strides that are gratifying to me, even as I have always considered this a long-term project."

Politico has advertised 13 jobs on journalismnext.com, from events coordinator to political reporters.